Poached Pear Salad with Goat Cheese
Pears, poached in red wine and cinnamon, add a festive touch to this Poached Pear Salad topped with goat cheese, pistachio nuts and pomegranate seeds.
I am a serious pear lover—and consider them one of our more underrated fruits. Plentiful and affordable, they are good fresh, and also super in recipes from sweet to savory.
I even use them instead of apples in my Broccoli Waldorf Salad.
Now for some reason pears make me think of the holidays. Perhaps because they’re one of our last local fruits as we go into a season of beautiful eating. And this salad fits right in with the wine and cinnamon flavor!
Of course, let’s not forget nutrition. How many dishes give you both a serving of vegetables and of fruit! Especially important when life is busy. (Though isn’t that always!)
My other tribute to the holidays comes from the addition of pomegranate seeds and pistachio nuts. I’ll take red and green accents any way I can get them. And of course, creamy goat cheese is a perfect compliment to the crunchy salad!
Ready in a little over 20 minutes, this Poached Pear Salad makes festive easy!

Poached Pear Salad
Ingredients
Poaching liquid
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
Salad
- 2 pears slightly underripe if possible
- 3 cups mixed greens or other lettuce
- 2 ounces fresh chevre goat cheese
- 2 Tablespoons pistachio nuts
- ¼ cup pomegranate seeds
Dressing
- 1 Tablespoon poaching liquid
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/8 teaspoon salt pepper or to taste
Instructions
- Mix poaching liquid in a small to medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar.
- Peel pears and cut in half. Remove seeds with a small rounded measuring spoon, leaving stem intact.
- Gently place pears in poaching liquid, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes. Turn every 5 minutes to ensure even color, until pears are colorful, but firm tender. Remove pears with slotted spoon. (Pears can be served hot or cold.)
- Place 11/2 cup of greens on a salad plate then top with two pear halves, half of the goat cheese, pomegranate seeds and nuts.
- Whisk together dressing ingredients. Drizzle salad with the dressing and serve.
- Garnish with sage or other fresh herbs if desired.
Notes
National Pear Day
- Asian Pear and Smoked Sausage Flatbread Pizza by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Brown Butter and Pear Blondies by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Gingered Cranberry Pear Sauce by That Recipe
- Poached Pear Salad with Goat Cheese by Art of Natural Living
- Rustic Pear and Almond Tart by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Vegan Dark Chocolate Pear Layer Cake by The Baking Fairy
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I LOVE this idea! Poached pears are more than just dessert. Adding this to my arsenal of salad recipes.
Pears are totally underrated! Love this unexpected combo of poached pears with salad. Looks tasty and light!
What a perfect salad for the season – very festive, and I know from the ingredients it’s very tasty. We have a couple of pears in the kitchen now, so perhaps Mark will post them for me.
Thanks for all the lovely comments while I was away! I might have to substitute the goats cheese for blue cheese. What a great salad 🙂
Such a great idea to feature pear in a holiday salad! This is fresh, light, tasty with the holiday vibes. I just want to cut into that sweet and tender pear.
Poaching pears in wine makes them so fabulous. And pairing it with a little goat cheese in a salad sounds scrumptious.
Pear and goat cheese is a great pair and I bet this salad is delicious!
I agree with you! Pears are so underrated! Your salad is beautiful.
I love poached pears. I always serve them for dessert with ice cream. Thanks for the wake up call. They are perfect for a salad.